Types of Government Systems
Unitary
Federal (power divided between two levels)
Confederate
State (also a “unitary gov.”)
National (also referred to as “federal gov.”)
-reserved powers
-10th Amendment
-enumerated powers
-implied powers (elastic clause)
-commerce clause (economic policy)
-supremacy clause (preemption)
= McCulloch v. Maryland
= Gibbons v. Ogden
Types of Federalism and History of Federalism
Dual Federalism (layer cake)
Cooperative Federalism (marble cake)
-1790s to 1930s = Dual Federalism
-states and federal gov. have separate powers
-national power increases, but not necessarily
by taking power from states
-the Supreme Court simply interpreted the
Commerce clause and Necessary and Proper clause
in such a way that the federal government could
“invent” new powers (not taking state power)
-states’ rights arguments/nullification are
resolved with Civil War
-national government had supremacy, but
dual federalism was still the norm and the
federal government was still quite limited
in its policymaking powers
-1930s to present = Cooperative Federalism
-federal governments power increases in response to Great Depression
-federal government begins making policy in areas previously
reserved to the states or simply off limits
-cooperative federalism is also referred to as Fiscal Federalism, which
utilizes grants-in-aid to achieve its policy goals
categorical grants (Regulated Federalism)
project grants (LBJ, 1960s)
formula grants (FDR, 1930s)
block grants (New Federalism)
devolution (Reagan, 1980s)
Federalism Today: We still have Cooperative Federalism, but depending on which party is in power we
favor either categorical or block grant solutions to policy problems. Democrats are more likely to favor
categorical grants (coerce the states to adopt a uniform, national policy), while Republicans are more likely
to favor block grants (allow states to have different eligibility requirements and benefits). The two most
recent administrations do not easily fit this dichotomy. The Bush Administration did not always favor block
grants and the Obama Administration has allowed experimentation at the state level.